Guide wires can be used in a range of surgical procedures to reduce the invasiveness of the respective procedure. For example, there are surgical procedures to correct injuries and maladies of the bone through the introduction of a flexible to semi-rigid/rigid catheter or tube that can be guided by a surgical guide wire. In a specific example, this invention can be employed in the surgical correction of a vertebral compression fracture injury that can be treated with bone cement. In this specific example, a semi-rigid tube or catheter is introduced into the volume of the compression fracture of the vertebral body and a balloon or bladder is introduced through a catheter or tube into the cancellous bone and inflated to correct the kyphosis induced by the compression fracture of a vertebral body. Afterwards the bladder or balloon is removed, and then bone cement is introduced using a catheter or tube. The guidance of catheter(s) or tube(s) in the example above is critical, and can be obtained by employing the use of a guide wire that has been introduced and steered to the optimal location by the provided invention.